Untouchable (LGBT - SciFi - Romance)

Chapter 6

Chapter 6 

The Qatar was on its way back to Capella. The ship had a couple of planetary officials on board who needed urgent transport, and a hold full of paper that the men intended to trade or sell on Capella. Paper was light and seeing that the hold would have been mostly empty on this trip, the Captain had allowed each crewman to personally buy up to a kilo of the precious material. It was a reward for enduring the rather boring run to Tian which had very limited recreational facilities for transient men. Despite the taxes they would have to pay, the men still expected to do very well out of the arrangement. 

One of the official passengers was Captain Robin Lang, Chief of the Huan police force. He was going to Capella to attend a system wide conference on modern law enforcement. Naturally most communication was done remotely through the console units but once every two years Colonel Young organised a live conference. There were always some communications which simply worked better face to face, often during the socialisation which occurred outside the formal sessions. 

Lang called in to see Alan Stewart in his quarters as soon as he had settled in. The Lieutenant found his body had tensed up the minute he saw Lang's ID flash outside his door. He rolled his shoulders and made a conscious effort to relax, before opening the door. "Robin! How are you? Come in."  

Lang looked just as awkward, trying too hard to act as if they were still best friends. "Fine, I'm fine. You're looking well." He sat down as Stewart poured them both a glass of Burran ale. 

"Max settling in OK then?" asked Lang, a little too casually as he sipped his beer. 

"Yes, he is. I think he's made some friends with the other young lads who came on board at the same time, but he'll tell you more about that than I can, I'm sure." Stewart smiled lightly and changed the subject. "So what's the main subject for discussion at this year's conference? Are you running one of the sessions?"  

The awkwardness between the two men gradually faded as they talked about work until it seemed to Alan they were almost back on their old footing. 

Eventually, Lang got reluctantly to his feet. "I must be off. I've got that report to finalise before we dock." He shook Stewart's hand and smiled more naturally. "It's been good to see you Alan." He hesitated for a moment then gave him a clumsy hug, slapping him on the back a couple of times. 

"You too, Robin. I'll see you at dinner, the Captain's arranged a more formal meal for us all tonight." Stewart returned the thumps on the back. Maybe it was possible to get their friendship back. 

The next day, Lieutenant Stewart sat patiently in the shuttle, along with six other men. He was looking forward to the couple of days leave he would have in Capella. He felt he really needed to call in at the All Stars or some other om friendly bar. Perhaps this time he could try the Sahara Club, he'd heard they had private rooms so that oms didn't need to walk through the streets together looking for a hotel, they could simply disappear into the back for an hour. It was supposed to be more discreet, some patrons even wore masks. He wasn't certain whether he'd like the place or not but he supposed he should go and see for himself. He had stayed as far away from Banner as he could in the confines of a small ship, but he still found himself conscious of his presence whenever they were in the same room. He could only hope he didn't look as frustrated as he felt. 

Banner sat at the other end of the shuttle, feeling miserable. He knew he should have expected Alan Stewart's withdrawal, he had all but demanded he stay away from him, but he missed his company. He missed talking to someone who was interested in his dragon research, missed chatting to him at mealtimes, missed his smile. He had got by quite happily for two years without sex but now those long dormant instincts were coming to life, awakening appetites he'd thought suppressed forever. He really wanted to talk to Alan, explain things to him. He wondered if he could find an opportunity while they were on Capella.